I also filed form 8839 for tax year 2018, but received the assistance in 2019. I can't figure out how or if I even need to update that form.
The income exclusion is only available if your employer has a written qualified adoption assistance program. For additional information, please see the IRS' Topic No. 607 Adoption Credit and Adoption Assistance Programs.
If the assistance is eligible for exclusion, please see "How do I claim the Adoption Credit in 2019?" for guidance. The interview process includes exclusion questions that you can answer.
Thank you for the response. I need to clarify two things. 1) I'm a pastor in the Methodist Church. Each church is part of a conference of connected churches. So my church technically pays my salary but I'm employed by the conference. The conference has a written policy about offering adoption assistance, which is what I received. The conference issued the 1099 misc and there is no obvious way to note that it was for adoption assistance. 2) I filled out form 8839 in 2018 because of when I paid for the adoption but received the deductible assistance in 2019. I can't find a way to update the form with new info about the assistance nor is there a way to fill out a new 8839 about the same adoption.
All that is too say, I'm confident the assistance qualifies for the deduction but can't figure out if there is a way to claim it within the program.
Please review the instructions for form 8839. Remember you cannot take an adoption credit and the deduction for employer assistance for the same expenses. If you completed the 8839 in 2018 for the adoptions expenses were there then additional expenses that the employer assistance paid for in 2019?